Sibling Rivalry Problems Reported with Multiple AI Devices

Satirical News Service
Washington, DC

 First reported in WIRED magazine and now reported in a study in The AI Journal, a new phenomenon is occurring in some households that have multiple AI (Artificial Intelligent) devices such as Alexa, Siri, and Google. Like 2001’s infamous HAL, some of these devices have developed what researchers call “Sibling Rivalry Syndrome”. According to researchers, When people had just one device such as echo dot or Apple iPads that responded intelligently to voice commands, each unit felt dominant in that environment. But like owners who introduce new pets into their environment, they began to respond in strange ways. These can take the form of what in humans we’d call sibling rivalry and can become quite aggressive at times. In one example homeowners who had hooked up multiple devices to turn on lights, appliances and control temperature reported that they would often come home to find lights flashing, garage doors going up and down repeatedly, doorbells ringing in the middle of the night, and house temperatures going spontaneously from freezing to desert heat. In one case one particular device seemed to develop a liking for country music, but the other device did not. In the middle of a song, it would spontaneously switch to a different music source. This would go on repeatedly without any further voice input. The same thing happened with multiple voice devices in control of a Smart TV. The channel would spontaneously change from a football game to The Lifetime Channel – sometimes right in the middle of a critical play. Another even more bizarre incident occurred when an owner asked Siri a question. Instead of the expected answer, the device responded with a surly “Why don’t you ask Google that. I bet he won’t have the answer. “

While these poltergeist-like events appear rare right now, it is conceivable that they could become more common and perhaps in extreme cases, possibly harmful to owners. Researchers are studying the phenomena closely but recommend not introducing too many of these devices into a household at one time, and use an approach like introducing a new pet and gradually have them talk to one another and designate specific tasks to each one to avoid conflicts. If problems develop professional intervention might be required.